Activated display sign



June 17, 1958 s s, DUNN 2,838,861

ACTIVATED DISPLAY SIGN Fild Aug. 8, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 1 1 SAMUEL S. DUNN,-

| INVENTOR.

Eg- 2 BY ATTORNEYS June 17, 1958 s, s, DUNN 2,838,861

ACTIVATED DISPLAY SIGN Filed Aug. 8, 1955 :s Sheets-Shet 2 A 6 15 v INVENTOR,

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ATTORNEYS June 17, 1958 s, s, N 2,838,861

ACTIVATED DISPLAY SIGN I Filed Aug. 8, 1.955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR; I? SAMUEL S.Dum-1.

* 2? 9124 BY geAmvm ATTORNEYS Unitid States Patfiflt ACTIVATED DISPLAY SIGN Samuel S. Dunn, Charlotte, N. C. Application August 8, 1955, Serial No. 527,044

9 Claims. (Cl. 40-30) This invention relates to a display sign and more particularly to a display sign which is scrambled and unscrambled continuously and periodically by power means.

An object of this invention is to provide a display sign in which the character or characters used in conveying the message are mounted for movement to attract attention. This has been accomplished by providing a motor to drive a disk, to which disk various segments of the character or characters to be conveyed to the observer are mounted to be scrambled and unscrambled as the motor drives the disk to permit oscillation of the given intervals or in succession.

Some of the'objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a top plan view of the display device;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of Figure l on a reduced scale;

; Figure 3 is a rear elevation of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a front elevation similar to Figure 2 showing the position of the segments of the character at the end of the first step of scrambling the character;

Figure 5 is a front elevation similar to Figure 4 showing the position of the segments of the character at the end of the second step of scrambling the character;

Figure 6 is an enlarged rear elevation looking at the rear of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a front elevation similar to Figure 5 with parts broken away showing the position of the segments of the character at the end of the third step of being scrambled;

Figure 8 is a front elevation similar to Figure 7- and shows the position of the segments of the character at the end of the fourth or last step of scrambling the character;

Figure 9 is a rear elevation of Figure 8 on an enlarged scale with the power driving means added thereto;

Figure 10 is a vertical section taken on line 1010 of Figure 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, and particularly to Figures 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 indicates a body member panel or frame having a pair of spaced legs or feet 11 to maintain the body member panel or frame in substantially a vertical position and on which the display device is mounted. A horizontally extending member 12 is suitably secured to or integral with the upper right-hand portion of the body member 10 (Figures 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8) and carries a Z-shaped motor support 13 which has a pair of cars or flanges 14 for engaging the top edge of the member '12. A motor 15, provided with "electrical conductors 16 whichlead to an outside source of electrical power, is suitably secured to the Z-shaped motor support 13 and has an elongated substantially straight lever, driving arm or rotary element 17 secured to the shaft thereof to be rotated by the same. The driving arm 17 has inturned ends thereon for alternately actuating the display sign to be presently described in detail. The motor 15 is a conventional timing motor provided with a gear reduction unit and may be of a type disclosed in catalog No. 50, page 6, entitled Synchron by Hansen Manufacturing Company, Inc., Princeton, Indiana, copyright, 1950. This type of motor is commonly employed in electrical clocks. A similar motor and gear reduction unit are shown in Hansen et al. Patents Nos. 2,298,373 and 2,237,958, respectively.

A block 18 is suitably secured to the back surface of the member 12 and acts as a stop for the Z-shaped motor mount 13 by engaging proximal edge portions thereof to prevent the actuating arm 17 of the motor 15 from increasing its stroke of operation in moving an oscillatable member in the form of a disk or plate 20 in an active stroke as would be the case if it was permitted to move closer to the axis of the disk 20.

The disk 20 has an arm 21 suitably secured thereto as by a pair of screws 22, the lower surface of which arm is alternately engaged by the inturned ends of the driving arm 17 for moving the arm 21 upwardly as viewed in Figure 3 to pivot the disk 20 on its shaft 23. The shaft 23 is in the form of a bolt which is loosely threaded through a bearing block 2311 which is suitably secured to or integral with the rear surface of the body member 10. The shaft 23 also extends loosely through the body member 10 and supports one of the character segments for pivotal movement.

For purposes of illustration, the display sign is shown in the form of a character H which is divided or separated into a plurality of mating or interengaging segments A, B, C, D and E. As will be observed in Figures 1 and 3, the disk shaft 23 fixedly carries the character segment D on its front end. The character segments A, B, and C are pivotally supported on the body mem-' ber 10 on a side remote from the disk 20 by shafts 24, 25, 26, respectively, loosely threaded through the body member 10 and respective bearing blocks 27, 28, 29. Segments A, B, C are fixed on the shafts 24, 25, 26. The bearing blocks 27, 28, 29 are suitably secured, as by adhesive means, to the back surface of the body member 10. To permit the character segments A, B, C to be pivoted as the disk 20 is moved by the driving arm 17, each of the character segments is provided with a link 30, 31, 32, respectively, each of which slidably penetrates' a transversely positioned aperture or bore provided through each of the supporting shafts 24, 25, 26, respectively, and have their innermost ends pivotally secured at 33, 34, 35, respectively, to the disk 20.

As will be observed upon inspection of Figures 3, 4 and 5, upon the driving arm 17v moving the disk arm 21 upwardly to drive the disk 20, the character segment A will begin to move first since the pivot 33 for its link 30 lies closer to the edge of the disk 20 than the pivot 34 and therefore has a greater path of movement or amplitude than pivot34. Also, the pivot 33 is slightly off center to a radial line of the disk 20 passing through the shaft 24.

It will be noted in Figure 3 that the pivot shaft 34 for the link 31 of the character segment B is located closer to the axis of disk 20 than the pivot shaft 33 and 3. disk 20, pivotal movement is imparted to segment B following partial movement of segment A and at less amplitude than segment A. The relative movement of segments A and B with movement of disk 20 from unscrambled position to the position shown in Figure 6 is illustrated serially in Figures 2, 4 and 5.

After character segments A and B have successively started clockwise movement in Figures 2, 4 and 5, clockwise movement of segment C is initiated during which the segments A, B and C move from the position shown in Figure 5 to substantially the position shown in Figure 7 while segments D and E remain stationary. This movement is caused by further clockwise rotation of disk after it has reached the position shown in Figure 6. However, the segment C had previously remained stationary because the link 32 had merely moved through the pivot shaft 26, since the pivot shaft 26 is disposed substantially tangent of the pivot shaft 35 when the disk-2t) is at rest. The slight movement of pivot shaft 35 With disk 20 during initial movement of segments A and B is insufficicnt to move segment C per-ceptibly.

When the disk reaches the position of Figure 6, the link 32 starts to turn shaft 25 and moves segment C to the position of Figure 7 before segments D or E move perceptibly. The character segment D mounted on the end of the disk shaft 23 will not begin its pivotal movement until the upper surface of the inner portion of the disk arm 21 engages a lever arm or crank 36 suitably secured to the shaft 23. The distance between the upper surface of the disk arm 21 and the lever arm 36 for actuating the segment D is such that the arm 21 has substantially completed one-half of its movement before engaging the same, as will be observed upon a comparison of Figures 3 and 9.

The character segment E is also provided with a bolt or shaft 40 which is loosely threaded through the hearing block 27 and the body member 10 and is secured to the rear portion of the character segment E. A link 41 also slidably penetrates the shaft or bolt 40 transversely thereof and has its upper end pivotally mounted at 47; on a crank link 43 having an elongated slot 44 at its end remote from the link 41. A stud 45 penetrates the elongated slot 44 in the crank 43 and is fixedly secured to the rear surface of the disk 20.

As will be observed, upon an inspection of Figures 3 and 9, upon movement of the disk 20, the stud 45 will move in the elongated slot 44 without imparting movement to the character segment E until the stud 45 engages the lower end of the slot as observed in Figure 9. At this time pivotal movement is imparted to the segment E. A resilient member in the form of a rubber band is shown in Figures 3 and 9 having its upper end connected to the pivot 42 and its lower end connected to a hook 47 on a stud 50 which is secured to the disk 20 for returning the disk 20 from the position shown in Figure 9 to the starting position shown in Figure 3 after the rotary arm'17 moves out of engagement with the disk arm 21 to complete an operation of scrambling the character segments. It will be observed upon a comparison of Figure 3 with Figure 9 that, upon the crank link 43 being moved to its outermost position as shown in Figure 9, by the stud 45, the resilient member 46-will be tensioned to thus return the disk 20 to its original position as shown in Figure 3 upon the driving arm 17 disengaging the disk arm 21.

A return stop in the form of a stud 51 secured to the rear surface of the disk 24 is provided to engage the arm 36 secured to the disk shaft 23 to insure that the segment D is moved with the disk 20, and will not prevent the segments from returning to the position shown in Figure 3 from the position shown in Figure 9. Otherwise, the upper corner of the beveled end of segment D might engage segment E and restrain the segments from further movement toward unscrambled position.

In operation, the motor 15 slowly turns the driving arm 17 for its opposite inturned ends to alternately engage the lower surface of the disk arm 21 to move the same'upwardly about a quarter of a revolution of the disk 26 to impart pivotal movement to the character segments A, B, C, D, E for scrambling the display character H in the successive steps as shown in Figures 4, 5, 7 and 8. Upon the inturned end of the driving arm 17 disengaging the lower surface of the disk arm 21, the resilient member 46 returns the disk and the character segments A, B, C, D, E from the scrambled position shown in Figure 9 to the starting or original position as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

As will be observed in Figures 8 and 9, the character segments A, B and C are pivoted in a direction opposite to the disk 20 while character segments D and E are pivoted in the same direction as the disk 20. It will also be observed in Figures 7 and 8 that the movement of the character segments A, B and C in an opposite direction to the character segments D and E, and preceding the movement of the character segments D and E, frees the mating edge portions of the character segments D and E from the mating edge portions of the character segments A, B and C to permit the character segments D and E to pivot in an opposite direction thereto without contacting the character segments A, B and C.

It will also be observed in Figure 8 that a slight pivotal movement is imparted to the character segment E by the contacting surface of the character segment D prior to the stud 45 on the crank link engaging the end of the slot 44 to pivot the character segment E to the position shown in Figure 8.

Although the character H is shown for purposes of illustration and is shown as broken up into a plurality of five mating segments, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not restricted to this particular display character or to the specific number of segments into which it is divided, but the invention applies equally as well to any type of character, word or name broken up into any desired number of segments, having mating surfaces extending at different angles, to be scrambled and unscrambled in a similar manner as herein illustrated by the display character H.

Accordingly, there has been disclosed a novel device for a display sign wherein the display character is divided into a plurality of mating segments, some of which pivot in an opposite direction to others to scramble the display character in a random appearing manner and which are then re-arranged in their original mating relationship to thus provide a highly attractive display design and one which will readily attract the eye of an observer.

Although the display device is described in upright position, it is apparent that it will operate with equal facility regardless of its altitude or position, in fact, it may even be inverted. Also, any desired type of resilient means may be used for returning the parts to original position after the arm 17 moves past the free end of disk arm 21, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A display apparatus comprising a body member having first and second opposed sides, at least one letter positioned adjacent the first side and including a plurality of mating segments, means pivotally supporting each of said segments independently of the others on said body member, an oscillatable member journaled on the second side of said body member in substantially concentric relation to the corresponding letter, resilient means urging said oscillatable member in one direction,

a driven rotary element disposed adjacent the oscillatable member, means on the oscillatable member engageable by said rotary element for imparting a partial revolution to the oscillatable member in the other direction momentarily, means thereafter responsive to movement of the oscillatable member by said rotary element for sue cessively imparting movement to the segments of said letter for scrambling the same, and said oscillatable member being operable to return said segments to original position under the influence of the resilient means upon said rotary element moving out of engagement with the means engageable thereby on the oscillatable memher.

2. The combination with a display device having a body member provided with first and second sides of at least one character positioned adjacent the first side and being formed from a plurality of normally interengaging and mating segments including a substantially centrally located segment and other segments arranged adjacent the centrally located segment, a pivot shaft fixed to each segment and loosely penetrating said body member for pivotally supporting corresponding segments, an oscillatable member mounted on the pivot shaft connected to the centrally located segment adjacent the second side of said body member, a plurality of substantially circularly arranged and circularly spaced links pivotally connected to the oscillatable member and extending outwardly therefrom, the outer portion of each of said links each loosely penetrating a corresponding one of said pivot shafts in transverse relation to the axis of the pivot shaft, an actuating arm projecting substantially radially from satid oscillatable member, a driven rotary element movable about an axis substantially parallel with and spaced from the axis of said oscillatable member and having means thereon for momentarily engaging and imparting movement to said arm and thus to said oscillatable member, resilient means for returning said oscillatable member to its original position upon said arm being released from said rotary element whereby, upon movement of said oscillatable member in one direction, the links connected thereto impart movement to the corresponding pivot shafts to pivot the corresponding segments and to thereby scramble said character and, upon movement of the oscillatable member in the other direction, the segments are returned to original unscrambled position.

3. A structure according to claim 2 wherein said oscillatable member has a pin projecting outwardly therefrom and in substantially parallel spaced relation to the axis thereof, a bar having a slot therein loosely penetrated by the latter pin, and a link penetrating at least one of said shafts having its end remote from the corresponding shaft pivotally connected to said bar in substantially spaced relationship to the pin penetrating said slot in the bar.

4. In a structure according to claim 2, said shaft on which the oscillatable member is mounted being provided with a substantially radially extending arm thereon, and the rear end portion of said actuating arm engageable with said last-named arm in the course of each movement being imparted to the oscillatable member by said rotary element for imparting movement to the centrally located segment.

5. A structure according to claim 2 wherein at least one of said links extends from the oscillatable member to the coresponding pivot shaft in tangential relation to the path of travel of the corresponding point at which the latter link is connected to the oscillatable member, and others of said links extend substantially radially from the oscillatable member to the corresponding pivot shafts whereby the pivot shaft penetrated by the radially extending links are partially rotated prior to rotation being imparted to the shaft penetrated by the link extending in substantially tangential relation to the point at which it is pivotally connected to said oscillatable member during the course of each active stroke of the oscillatable memher.

6. A structure according to claim 2 wherein that end of at least one of the links which is pivotally connected to said oscillatable member is positioned in closer proximity to the axis of the oscillatable member than the end at which at least one other of said links is pivotally connected to said oscillatable member.

7. A structure according to claim 4 having means carried by the oscillatable member and engageable with said last-named arm during the movement of said oscillatable member to its original position to thereby return the centrally located segment to its original position.

8. A display device comprising an upright body member, a plate pivotally secured to one side of said body member, an arm extending substantially radially from one side of said plate, means for engaging said arm for pivoting said plate, a display character positioned on the opposite side of said body member from said plate, said display character comprising a plurality of mating and contacting character segments, means for individually pivotally supporting each of said segments comprising a shaft penetrating said body member, some of said shafts projecting from said body member in outwardly spaced relation about the periphery of said plate, a plurality of links having their inner ends pivotally carried by said plate, each of said links having their outer ends slidably penetrating a bore in a corresponding one of said some of the shafts, the inner ends of said links being spaced from each other and located relative to the axis of said plate so that upon movement being imparted to said arm, the plate will move in a given direction and some of said character segments will be pivoted in the same direction as the plate and others of said character segments will be pivoted in an opposite direction to the plate to disengage each other to position the display char acter segments in a random appearing manner, and means for returning the character segments to their original mating position.

9. A display device comprising a body member, a plate pivotally mounted on one side of said body member, a display character comprising a plurality of mating segments each pivotally mounted on the opposite side of said body member from said plate, means for imparting a partial revolution to said plate in one direction, means connecting each of said segments to said plate to pivot a group of said segments each in succession in one direction and another group of said segments each in succession in an opposite direction therefrom during said partial revolution of said plate to position the segments in a random appearing manner, and means for returning the plate and segments to their original mating position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,352,368 Horsey Sept. 7, 1920 1,456,273 Johnson et a1. May 22, 1923 1,678,320 Blocker July 24, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 434,052 Germany Sept. 17, 1926 378,810 Great Britain Aug. 18, 1932 567,499 Germany Jan..4, 1933 435,526 Italy May 18, 1948 608,066 Great Britain Sept. 9, 1948 

